Under the imperial government the breeding of horses and cattle was especially encouraged in order to furnish mounts for the cavalry, and to ensure the best results the Ministry of Agriculture provided the Cossack herders with blooded stock. Breeding farms are established for the direction and supervision of this industry at convenient points.
Besides horses a great part of the wealth of the
Cossack nations consists in their herds of cattle, sheep, swine, and camels. Indeed in many parts of the stanitzi the size of these herds forms the chief criterion of Cossack wealth and position, much in the same way that this standard is applied among nomad races.
The old tradition that pictm'es the Cossack troops as a levy of wild horsemen, only useful for the purpose of partisan warfare, in no way represents the actual state of their military capabilities. Besides living from childhood in a military atmosphere their officers are drilled with especial severity for their long period of duty. Under the old regime, while special military institutions existed for Cossack officers, they were subjected to the same educational requirements as the cadets graduating from regular military schools. Moreover, no amount of training could take the place of the marvellous esprit de corps — an almost instinctive "clan" feeling — existing in every Cossack regiment.
The introduction of universal military service in 1874, and the enactment of laws by which every male Russian was called upon to take up his share in the burden of state defence, removed many of the differences existing between the Cossacks and their peasant or moujik neighbours. But in spite of the important change thus realized the military traditions of the Cossack race remained unchanged and the imperial government continued to treat them as a distinct body in the community. Each Cossack was still required to furnish his own horse, uniform and weapons, and the only changes made in the old conditions of Cossack service had in view placing the Cossack armies in a position enabling them to co-operate with the regular troops of the Russian line.*
Nearly all the Cossack troops engaged in the heroic struggle which the Russian army made on the side of the Allies during the opening years of the World War, were cavalry formations. The levy of the united Cossack armies just before the war constituted a minimum of 144 cavalry regiments, 830 sotnia or "hundreds" and a quota of light Cossack artillery, accompanying the infantry divisions. As Cossack cavalry drill included a certain training in infantry tactics, their services were useful even in trench warfare, but it was as scouts and raiders that the traditional Cossack qualities gained for these troops such well-deserved reputation.
For military purposes all male Cossacks are divided into two general categories, active and re-
* While many of the most famous Cossack regiments wear a uniform which differs little from those of the Russian dragoon regiments, the more characteristic Cossack military dress is an adaptation of the Circassian tcherkeska — the convenient martial costume of the unconquerable Mussulman Tcherkess tribesmen who inhabit part of the Caucasus.
serve. The active category is again divided into three divisions:
(1) Preparatory, composed of Cossacks and cadets undergoing military instruction.
(2) Line Cossacks.
(3) Depot or reserve for the second division. Cossack military service begins at eighteen years and is continued as follows: three years in the preparatory class; twelve years in the line; five years in the reserve. The "line" category, in view of the long service required, is di^-ided into three divisions, only the first of which serves constantly with the colours, while the other two are allowed to remain near their homes subject to "the call to arms." (See Russian Encyclopedia, article by A. Saroff.)
With the negligible exception of twenty infantrj'' "hundreds" and a greatly reduced quota of light Cossack artillery, nearly all the Cossack troops serve as cavalry, or "dismounted cavalry."*
In addition to the regular Cossack troops the imperial armies included a division of cavalry, armed and drilled according to Cossack methods, but exclusively recruited among the war-like tribes of the Tcherkess, Abkhazes, Lesghians, Daghestani, etc. These wild horsemen, who compose the celebrated "Dikki Divnsion" or "Wild Division," enjoy not only a great reputation for reckless
* The above figures are based upon widely differing data furnished by the usual "official sources" before the revolution. They are given with the greatest reserve.